5th fall,Fractured Humerus Head

[AlabamaGal]

My husband was diagnosed June 15, 2010. His fatigue and weakness has been awful He has had 5 falls in 6 months. The last one and most serious was this past Wednesday, January 11, 2011. For months, he has been using a walker inside the house only to shuffle back and forth between his lift chair and the bathroom. --all which were very difficult. Unfortunately, while I was at the hospital with my Mom, due to my step-dad's heart attack, my 15 yr old had to call 911 as my hubby lost his balance as he pivoted away from the walker to get to the toilet. He felt directly on his right shoulder and fractured the humerus head. His right arm was the strongest of his two arms. Now it is immobilized. He has been in so much pain. I had to beg the hospital to keep him overnight to let me have a chance to get things set up at home. I fired one hospice and got a new group that has been just wonderful. They came in and took care of everything. He is home now and has the pain meds he needs, the hospital bed he needed, and a Hoyer lift. MY QUESTION is is there someone else on this board that has suffered this injury and if so, how long did it take to recover and how well did your limb usage bounce back? It seems that the hospitalist dismissed us with little info or instruction; that since we use a hospice for care support and he has ALS, that we were just discounted.

 

[momap53]

Take a look at the bottom of the page for other threads about falls. I can't think of any recent posts about this. I'm so sorry you guys have this additional infirmity to deal with on top of the ALS. Take your questions to your Hospice Nurse. If she doesn't have the answers she will find out for you.

 

[cervus]

Unfortunately you're going to have to think about a wheel chair and lifts to help him get around. Sorry you're all going through this.

 

[AlabamaGal]

We have a power wheelchair and now a Hoyer lift, thanks to our hospice agency. He is having a hard time; so much pain. I have not idea how well he will recover from this.

 

[momap53]

My Mom fell a couple of years ago at age 88.(NOT ALS, she had Parkinson's and CLL) She fractured her humerus near the head and wore an immobilizer for about 6 weeks. She was seen in the ER initially and received a referral from that visit to an orthopedist for further evaluation and follow-up. The bone mended nicely and she received in-home physical therapy for ROM and strengthening exercises with a script from her Ortho. She refused to do her exercises on her on so never regained full ROM in that arm. The Ortho doc had told her that there was about a 3 month window of opportunity to regain the ROM. I would expect that Hospice could arrange for some sort of follow up for your father's break. Once a patient is signed onto Hospice it is my understanding that all further medical care must go through them.
If he is having pain that is not controlled by his current pain medication you need to call your Hospice nurse and let her know. She can get an order to have his medication increased or changed as needed.

 

[AlabamaGal]

Our first Hospice agency told us we could receive medical care for anything outside of the reason he is being seen by Hospice. I am going to check with this new agency. I am deeply concerned with the fact that loss of use for so long will be unrecoverable. He is also recovering from a staph (suspected MRSA) infection that we cannot figure out how he got. It has affected his face.

 

[tammyg]

It sound lie he may have touched the virus somewhere, then touched his face. My cousins daughter got MRSA at a gymnastics meet from a tiolet seat.

 

[Al]

One person told me I got mine from the hospital. The hospital says I got it from my home care workers. Who knows.

AL.

 

[Bad Balance]

When I am cold and tired, my tendency to fall is much greater.
On A recent fishing trip, I fell 3-4 times each day.

Just enevitable until you give up.

- Jerry

 

[Al]

Back in the good old days, when I went fishing and fell down, there was alcohol involved. Times have changed.

AL.

 

[AlabamaGal]

Al, you made me laugh! I needed that. The break is apparently extremely severe.....and I found out today that they also spotted a 7mm dense nodule/mass in his right lung. Have no idea what it is. Just one hit, after another.

 

[LizT]

Dang, AlabamaGal. Sure do hope you guys catch a break real soon!

 

[AlabamaGal]

Thank you. I am so glad this support group is here.

 

[LizT]

Me too. Glad you found us!

 

[MuonOne]

AlabamaGal,

I was wondering if you have an ALSA contact . . . according to their web site, there is an ALS clinic in Crestwood Medical Center, Huntsville.

I used to think probably anyone who has ALS is otherwise healthy (the disease is so rare and so serious) but then I read a study showing a maybe one in five chance exists an ALS patient also has another serious condition.

ALSA has many ways of helping ALS patients, they specialize in ALS and as far as I know, they do not charge for their services.

Many ALS patients are seniors and falling is a big problem for seniors, whether they have ALS or not.